I was under the impression Thompson and Walker still have real potential?

Lip

That Addison Reed guy is pretty good, too.

__________________"I have the ultimate respect for White Sox fans. They were as miserable as the Cubs and Red Sox fans ever were but always had the good decency to keep it to themselves. And when they finally won the World Series, they celebrated without annoying every other fan in the country." Jim Caple, ESPN (January 12, 2011)

"We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the (bleeding) obvious is the first duty of intelligent men." — George Orwell

Was anyone at the game and/or close enough to hear the incident. I wasn't watching on TV so I have no idea how it looked when it went down.

It was very odd. My buddy and I, who were in Sect. 128 basically behind the Rays dugout, although about 30 rows up from the field saw the HP ump make the "you're outta here" signal which we assumed was for Maddon. Really had no idea what happened until I read about it later that night.

Really had no consequence on the game considering the player he tossed was a SP that wasn't scheduled to pitch probably unless the game lasted 30 innings.

This regime does seem to be able to identify and develop pitching talent. Hell, they are even getting some decent innings out of Axelrod.

But when it comes to position players, it just seems to be fail after fail.

This is very true. The position player problem has been plaguing for years.

As for the pitchers, I have some doubts on whether they can keep up this level of play, notably Jones. He was lights out for much of last year, but he's been somewhat shaky in clutch situations this year. I guess it depends on how often you use him and Robin may be relying a bit too much on his services.

This regime does seem to be able to identify and develop pitching talent. Hell, they are even getting some decent innings out of Axelrod.

But when it comes to position players, it just seems to be fail after fail.

Who was the last position player to come through the Sox minor league system that turned into a solid, above average MLB player? I'm really having a hard time thinking of anyone decent since 1998. Chris Young? Beckham? Not that I think either of those guys are above average MLB players, but who else is there? 15 years is a long time to be cranking out a bunch of Josh Fields and Brian Anderson and Brent Morel-type players as some of our more notable prospects.

Who was the last position player to come through the Sox minor league system that turned into a solid, above average MLB player? I'm really having a hard time thinking of anyone decent since 1998. Chris Young? Beckham? Not that I think either of those guys are above average MLB players, but who else is there? 15 years is a long time to be cranking out a bunch of Josh Fields and Brian Anderson and Brent Morel-type players as some of our more notable prospects.

All comes down to not investing big bucks in the minor league system.
I've mentioned this before as has Lip but in one of Einhorn's first interviews he said the minor leagues are over-rated, he said you build winners by wise trades and wise free agent signings. We haven't done great there either The one thing he forgot is when the injury bug hits and you have nobody down on the farm who can do the job as a replacement. The only position players that came up and made an impression are Josh Fields who by the next year was a flop and Beckham and the jury is still out on him.

__________________Coming up to bat for our White Sox is the Mighty Mite, Nelson Fox.

Who was the last position player to come through the Sox minor league system that turned into a solid, above average MLB player? I'm really having a hard time thinking of anyone decent since 1998. Chris Young? Beckham? Not that I think either of those guys are above average MLB players, but who else is there? 15 years is a long time to be cranking out a bunch of Josh Fields and Brian Anderson and Brent Morel-type players as some of our more notable prospects.

Rowand and Crede, they both debuted around the 2000/2001 season in the Majors and become regular everyday players around 2003/2004.

Considering BR considers a 2+ WAR to be 'starter level' that is bleak. And just qualitatively from looking that up: there are WAY fewer draft products on the roster the past few years compared to 10 years ago.

I just don't know about Alexei, he's a full fledged vet now and I just don't see a guy who has figured out what hitting is all about, I see him coming out of his shoes on every swing. I was hoping by now he would turn into a Jeter type hitter. Maybe we can make PK a playing-hitting coach, the man knows how to hit.

He'll also be 32 this year....time really rolls by - he's a full blown veteran shortstop who is more likely to decline than improve.

Rios has raked the last 2 years...we should be able to get some nice young players for him (if we don't just give him away like we did Quentin).